Railway frog and crossing



(No Model.) 2.Sheets-Sheet 1.

' L. P. BRAINB.

RAILWAY FROG AND CROSSING.

Patented Oct. 27, 1896.

waz essesx- ##47/ 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. P. BRAINE. Y FROG AND CROSSING.

RAILWA PatentedO t, 27, 1896. I

Wneaweav 4 MT J MWZ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAlVRENCE F. BRAINE, OF RIDGElVOOD, NElV JERSEY.

RAILWAY FROG AND CROSSING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 570,082, dated October 2'7, 1896.

Application filed Iannary 24, 1896. Serial No. 576,650. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it'may concern.-

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE F. BRAINE, of Ridgewood, in the county of Bergen, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Frogs and Crossings, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof.

My invention relates particularly to rail binders and joints for railway crossings and frogs and to the combination thereof with the rails.

It is Well understood that with the increase of weight of rolling-stock and the increase in speed of heavy trains crossings and frogs are subjected to excessive wear and must be renewed with great frequency in order to be kept within the limit of safety. The rapid deterioration and wear of such portions of the track as are herein referred to are hastened by any departure from absolute rigidity of the parts. The various constructions heretofore devised for the use herein alluded to are more or less defective in that the parts are not bound together rigidly and that there is consequently more or less play or relative yielding of the parts during the passage over them of heavy rolling-stock, and that there is also in some cases a tendency to shear the bolts which bind the parts together.

I have sought to overcome the difficulties referred to and to provide such a construction as will secure practically absolute rigidity of the parts in their relation one to another and which shall avoid the danger of shearing the bolts.

I accomplish the desired result by the construction and arrangement of parts which are fully set forth and explained hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of one member or corner of a crossing constructed in accordance with my invention, both the main rail and the guard-rail being shown. Fig. 2 is a similar View of a frog embodying my in vention. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the filling-piece hereinafter referred to. Fig. 4: is a perspective View of one of the angle pieces or binders. Figs. 5 and 6 are crosssections through the rails, fillingpiece, and binders, showing slightly-different forms of the filling-piece and binders.

In carrying out my invention I provide a filling-piece A, which conforms to the angle of the crossing or frog, and, being in one solid piece, has radiating arms or members a a a a as clearly represented, for example, in

Fig. 3, which are so proportioned and ar-' ranged as to fill the spaces between the guardrails and the main rails in the case of a cross ing, as represented in Fig. 1, or to fill the spaces between the rails, as represented in Fig. 2, in the case of a frog. The filling-piece is also suitably shaped to receive and support the rails which are secured to it, what may be termed the head a of the filling-piece preferably having bearing-surfaces, as at a Prefpiece, whether they are the main and guard 8:)

rails B and B (shown in both Figs. 1 and 2) or the diverging rails B and B of the frog, are placed against the opposite sides of such arm or member of the filling-piece with angle-pieces or binders 0 against the outer side of each rail. These angle-pieces or binders C are placed in position after the assembling of all of the rails which make up the frog 0r crossing and extend from one to the other of each of the pair of diverging rails, being suitably shaped to fit in the angle between such rails, as represented clearly in Figs. 1, 2, and 4. The binders may be simple straps, which bear directly against the webs of the rails in the manner of the ordinary face-plate, or they 5 may be dished and provided with bearingsurfaces at top and bottom, as shown in Fig. 5, in which case the foot a is preferably extended to form a bearing-surface for substantially the whole of the foot of each rail, as

shown in Fig. 5, or such angle-pieces or binders may be formed with a flange or lip c, which extends over and beneath the foot of the rail and in part supports the same, the foot of the filling-piece being made correspondingly n arrower, all as represented in Fig. 6.

hen the filling-piece, rails, and anglepieces or binders have been assembled in the manner described, bolts D I) are passed through holes provided for the purpose in the head of the filling-piece, the web of the rails and the binders, and the nuts (Z thereon are turned up to secure all of the parts firmly together.

\Vith respect to the functions of the improved construction it will be observed in the first place that the rails themselves are supported both at the head and at the foot by those parts of the construction which secure them together and that there cannot be any shearing action on the bolts which are employed to secure the various parts together. In the second place, as the filling-piece is made continuous, all of its arms or members being integral one with another, there can be no play or movement of one part with respect to another, the necessary result being not only that there is no shearing action 011 the bolts, but there is no possibility of the pounding under the passage of heavy rolling-stock moving at a high rate of speed, which quickly wears out the frogs and crossings as usually constructed hitherto. Moreover, the assembling of the parts is effected easily and quickly.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a railway frog or crossing the combination with the rails, of a continuous fillingpiece having radiating arms integral one with another, each of said arms having a head to cooperate with the rails on opposite sides thereof and having a foot to support said rails, binders adapted to be secured to the outer surfaces of the rails and bolts adapted to secure all of the parts together, substantially as shown and described.

2. In arailway frog or crossing, the combination with the rails, of a continuous fillingpiece having radiating arms integral one with another, each of said arms having a head to cooperate with the rails on opposite sides thereof and having a foot to support said rails, binders or angle-pieces shaped to fit in the angle between diverging rails and to extend from one to the other and bolts to secure all of the parts together, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a railway frog or crossing, the combination with the rails, of a continuous fillingpiece having radiating arms integral one with another, each of said arms having a head to cooperate with the rails on opposite sides thereof and having a foot to support said rails, binders adapted to be secured to the outer surfaces of the rails and having each a flange or lip to extend over and beneath the foot of the rails to support the same, and bolts to secure all of the parts together, substantially as shown and described.

This specification signed and witnessed this 31st day of December, A. D. 1895.

LAIVRENCE F. BRAINE.

In presence of- A. N. JESBERA, IV. 13. GREELEY. 

